Stars' chance to shine

Sports writer for The Age

Renegade ... Peter Nevill is enjoying his time in Melbourne. Photo: Getty Images

THE Melbourne Stars are bracing for the biggest test of their lofty reputation.

The Stars host the Big Bash League’s benchmark team of last season, Sydney Sixers, on Friday night at the MCG knowing a win could keep them in a position that eluded them throughout all of last season – comfortably among the league’s pacesetters.

Both the Stars and Sixers are without a key top-order English import, with Luke Wright and Michael Lumb respectively missing because of international duty.

Filling that place will be the subject of significant deliberation by the Stars’ hierarchy until the teams are finalised on Friday night. The most likely candidates would be Scott Henry and John Hastings.

Sydney-based Henry could swap directly with Wright as an opener. The left-hander has enjoyed a break-out season for New South Wales, so much so it earned him a Stars deal, and he scored an unbeaten 207 in a tour match against Sri Lanka earlier this month.

The other candidate, Hastings, is on the cusp of full fitness after breaking down in the aftermath of his Test debut in Perth recently. He would add depth to the Stars’ fast-bowling attack – it already contains Lasith Malinga, Clint Mckay and James Faulkner – but would bat down the order, which would necessitate a batting reshuffle.‘‘We might be tweaking with the batting order a little bit, losing Luke Wright this week to the England Twenty20 game,’’ Stars captain Shane Warne said.

‘‘We’re testing a few different people and a few different scenarios. We might throw a little surprise up the top; we’ve got a few batsmen that could do that.’’

Warne predicted he, coach Greg Shipperd and chairman of selectors Ian Chappell would be ‘‘scampering around . . . trying to work out what the best combinations and things are’’.

The Sixers are coming into the match on the back of their first loss in 12 Big Bash League and Champions League matches, a crushing defeat at home to Perth Scorchers. In that match, the Sixers’ top six batsmen contributed a paltry 21 runs. Warne said he was taking more notice of the robust form that preceded that heavy loss.

A win over the Sixers would allow the Stars to keep pace with local rivals Melbourne Renegades, the surprise ladder leaders. After starting last season badly and requiring a late-season surge to qualify for the semi-finals, Warne said the Stars’ recent wins against Perth and Hobart made him more optimistic of their situation this season. ‘‘I think the last few games we’ve started to hit our straps a bit, got a little bit of momentum. We’ve got some confidence up, we’re starting to play well,’’ he said.

‘‘So three and one [by beating the Sixers] at the halfway stage and suddenly you have three or four teams that have won one and lost two. Suddenly there’s a big gap, there’s a bit of a difference, so this is a really crucial game at the halfway stage for us.’’

The Stars’ batsmen have been practising for their looming duel with the Sixers’ pace spearhead Brett Lee by using Cricket Victoria’s newly purchased Pro-Batter simulator, which features actual footage of the paceman’s run-up and replicas of his key deliveries. A bigger threat could be Sunil Narine, the West Indies spinner who, like Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal and Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis, boasts an unconventional action that makes it difficult for batsmen to read.

•The Adelaide Strikers romped home against a struggling Sydney Thunder side to win Thursday night’s Twenty20 Big Bash League match at ANZ Stadium.

The Strikers built on a strong opening partnership of 81 between Michael Klinger and Tim Ludeman to reach 6-177 in cool conditions in Sydney.

Klinger top-scored with 60 off 46 balls and fellow opener Ludeman struck 46 off 39, while Nathan Reardon impressed with a quickfire 42 off just 20 deliveries.Despite the run-fest, Thunder left-arm paceman Dirk Nannes impressed to take 4-17 off his four overs.

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